Wednesday, July 26, 2017

Isbell on Paul & Judaism

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION: Paul & Judaism. By Charles David Isbell, Louisiana State University, July 2017.

Further, if Paul had been a Sadducee from the beginning, his subsequent laxity with respect to rules and rituals that were precious to Pharisees makes more sense. His extremism and his arrogance in presuming that he alone knew better than the ruling authorities how the new faith should proceed also make more sense coming from an elitist. And it would offer a new wrinkle to the change of heart Paul experienced on the road to Damascus. He did not lose beliefs precious to a Pharisee, for subsequent events describe no scintilla of internal struggle over his abandonment of circumcision, kashrut, Shabbat, and torah.

I note that this essay does not interact with the vast recent (i.e., within the last decade or so) secondary literature on Paul. I am not an expert on Paul and I have no idea what a specialist in Pauline studies would make of it. I link, you decide.

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